After an announcement by Tata Steel that it has sought substantive and permanent financial support at its UK operations, Indian led Liberty Steel mulls acquisition of the company’s UK faction at Port Talbot in Wales. The separation of Tata Steel UK and Tata Steel Netherlands from the consolidated Tata Steel Europe entity could aid government engagement in Tata Steel UK.
Liberty Steel on Saturday announced that Swedish firm SSAB was under discussion with Tata Steel to acquire its assets in the Netherlands.
In the last financial year ended April 5, Tata Steel UK announced a pre-tax loss of £654mn ($869mn). The steelmaker at its Port Talbot steelworks employs about 8,000 workers and has started reviewing all options to ensure the UK business becomes self-sustaining in the future.
In 2016, Tata had put its Port Talbot steelworks up for sale due to a financial crisis, only to cancel the decision. Liberty Steel had even then submitted a bid for the acquisition of the business.
Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel is a part of GFG Alliance, which has also submitted a bid for another struggling steelwork- Thyssenkrupp in Germany. Earlier this month, Thyssenkrupp was in talks with the German government over an aid package of €5bn ($5.9bn, £4.5bn).
($1=€0.84=£0.75)